Vehicle wheel-tire.



C. VAN SMITH.

vEHIcLB WHEBL TIRB.

UN'ITE ETA [ES ENT VEHICLE WHEEL-TIRE.

Speciflcation of Letters Patent.

ratentea oet. 8, 1912.

Application filed September 3,. 1910. Serial No. 580,445.

To aZZ whom it may com'c'rn:

Be itknown that- I, CHARLES VAN SMIrn', a citizen ofthe United States, residing at Kansas' City, in the county of Jackson and State of 4Missouri, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Vehicle Wheel-Tires, of which the following is a specification.

This .invention' relatesto vehicle Wheel t-ies and my object is to produce a resilient or cushionnon-skidding tire, of simple, strong, durable and inexpensive construction.

A further object is to produce a tire which can be easily and quickly secured in position or repaired byan unskilled person.

With these objects in view the invent'ion consists in certam novel and peculiar features'of construction and combination of parts as hereinafter described and claiine'dp and in orderthat it may be fully under- Stood reference is -to be had to the accompanying drawing2 in which- Figure 1, is a view partly in side elevation and. partly in central section of a segment of a wheel equipped With a tire embodying my invention. Fig. 2, is an e-nlarged section on the line II--II of Fig. 1. Fig. 3, is

an enlarged circumferential section on the` line III-III of Fig. 2. Fig. 4, is a Vertical section of a part of the Wheel and tire, with the latter equipped with a reinforcing or 'p stifl'ening auxiliary spring.

In the said drawing, 1r indicates the felly and 2 the spokes of a wheel of any suitable or preferred type of construction, and at suitable intervals the felly is provided with radial holes 3.

t is an externally channeled rim adaptcd to be shrunk or otherwise rigidly secured upon the felly and provided with holes 5 in alinement with holes 8 of the felly, the rim being preferably formed with a circumferential groove 6 of segmental form in cross section.

Arranged circumferentially ('-2 the Wheel and fitfting snugly in the channel of the rim and in the groove 6 at the bottom of the channel, is a coiled Wire tire 7 consisting'of a lurality of members 8 formed at their en s with upturnedhooks 9, the 'adjacent hooks of contiguousfsprings extending circumfere'ntially With respect to the rim and being located at opposite sides of and spaced apart' a distance substantially equal to the diameter of the holes 5, to/reccive between them the shank 10 of a T-bolt, the hcad-11 of the same cxtending transversely of. and fitting in the channel of the rim and in said hooks 9, a washer 12 and nut 13, engaging the inner' end of the bolt and applying pressure on the felly to clamp the tire Iirmly to the rim and interlock the members of the former together. The tire members 8 will be of such length that to secure them together they mustibe stretchcd to place them under tension, this tensionin'g effecting a spacing apart of their convolutions and giving them a better tractional cngageme'nt With the ground. Furthermore, by spacing the convolutions apart slightly, there is less chance for mud to wedge between them so tightly as to make the periphery of the tire practically smooth and thus reduce its tractional grip upon the roadway. Another adwVantage of having the convolutions spaccd apart, is that mud, caked and hardened within the tire, can be readily and quickly dislodged by projecting a stream of Water on it, or the tire may be left to clean itself by repeatedly crushi'ng hardencd mud within it, until fine enough to sift through the interstices between the convolutions. In the preferi'ed construction the heads of the holts are provided With recesses 14 to provide for a more extended grip on hooks 9, and adjacent to the heads ll, the stems of the bolts are preferably squarcd as fit-15, where they fit between the hooks to assist in guarding against swivel movcment of the bolts.

Tf desired the tire may be stiffencd by the use of an inner coiled spring consisting of similar Sections 16,tern'1inating in engaging hooks 17, shown in Fig. 4;, the com'olutions of the Springs 1G being preferahly of opposite pitch to the con'volutions of members S to more efl'ectively brace and stifl'en the latter than 'would bc the case if the inner and outer Springs were both pitched in the same direetion, it being undcrstood that the difference: of pitch is not so noticeable at one side of each connecting point of adjacent Springs because at such points the convolutions are warped somewhat out of their natural positions in order that the endmost convolutions of adj acent spring members 'shall be disposed apart at the pei'iphery of the tire a distance about equal to that bctween the other convolutions, as will be apparent by reference to Figs. 1 and 4:.

' hicie by reason of its eiioient tfactienai grip A tiife of the type desei'ibed cen be i'eediiy and eesiiy secured in position end the breakage oi' other material injury of a member can be remedied et small cost by removing suchv member end repizteing it Wit-h a, new

one.

n practice. the Wheels at one side of the vehicle Will prefembly be provided With right hand Springs end the Wheels at the opposite side with left-hand Springs end thus red'uoe to the minimum the possibility of the vehicle skidding in either direetion A tii'e of the Character deecribed tende to absorb the shock or Vibmtion incident to travel, diminishes chance of injui'y to the Veupon the roadwey, and is not eny oheaper than a pneumetic or solid tfnfe butis fm' more durabie i From theebove description it will be appti'ent that I have 'pi'odueed a tii'e for trehicle Wheeis poseessing the features of advantage enuinei'eted as desirabie and I wish it to be iniderstood that I reserve the right i to make all changes properly falling Within the spirit and soope of the appended claim.

claimz" The combination With a vehicle Wheel of a ehanneled rini secured on the fe11y` of the Wheel and a coiied spring tire cireumferentially snrrounding and fitting in the channeled rim and consistingpf aplurality'of members i armnged end to end and tennineting at their ac'ljacent ends in hooks, and fastening de.- Vices extending radially through the rim and felly between the adjacent hooks of oontiguous spring members and provided with transvei'se hemis fitting in the channel of the rim and heaxing down upon' said hooks, and means engaging the inner ends of said 'fastening devices to secure them in fixed relation to the i'im and felly.

In t'estimony Whereof I afiix my signature, in the presenoe of two Witnesses.

CHARLES VAN SMITH.

Vifitnessee 'HELEN C. RoDGnRs, G. Y. Tnonfn. 

